CTV National News for Monday, March 16, 2026: Trump doubles down on demand for allies to help open the Strait of Hormuz

·23 min·1 clip

Trump says NATO allies should help because the U.S. has spent 40 years protecting them.

Canada’s latest inflation reading comes in softer, but the broadcast quickly makes the case that the calmer headline does not tell the whole story. The report opens on the gap between lower prices and the risks still building in the background, with oil markets reacting to the war in Iran and economists warning that the worst may still be ahead. The program then turns to Donald Trump’s demand that NATO allies send naval assets to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, adding fresh friction with allies already under pressure over Ukraine. From there, the episode moves to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s trip to London, where he meets his British counterpart and later has an audience with King Charles. In public remarks, Carney and the British leader restate support for Ukraine and praise coalition-building, while Carney’s readout condemns Iranian missile and drone attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure. The broadcast also notes Carney’s stop in Norway a day earlier, where he and NATO’s Nordic members showed hesitation about getting involved in a war started by the U.S. and Israel. Separately, the episode touches on deadly fighting between two neighbors and a Taliban government claim of heavy casualties in a dispute over borders with Afghanistan. At home, the show turns to the push and pushback over legalizing pepper spray for self-defense, treating it as an active policy argument rather than a settled idea. The episode also includes a lighter Canadian cultural note about a city that became the subject of an Oscar acceptance speech, with the filmmakers offering gratitude, hometown pride, and a joke about a free round of beer. Across all of it, the show keeps a formal national-news pace, moving from economics to foreign policy to domestic debate before ending on the practical stakes of the day’s headlines.

As heard by us

A brisk national-news hour that ties inflation relief to a far less settled world.

The episode draws a clean line between a reassuring inflation headline and the tougher reality beneath it: cooling prices at home, rising geopolitical risk abroad, and the strain that puts on Canadian policy.

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Why you'd press play

You want the inflation story, plus the geopolitical fight behind it.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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